— puddler , n. — puddly , adj.
/pud"l/ , n. , v. , puddled, puddling .
n.
1. a small pool of water, as of rainwater on the ground.
2. a small pool of any liquid.
3. clay or the like mixed with water and tempered, used as a waterproof lining for the walls of canals, ditches, etc.
v.t.
4. to mark or scatter with puddles.
5. to wet with dirty water, mud, etc.
6. to make (water) muddy or dirty.
7. to muddle or confuse.
8. to make (clay or the like) into puddle.
9. to cover with pasty clay or puddle.
10. Metall. to subject (molten iron) to the process of puddling.
11. to destroy the granular structure of (soil) by agricultural operations on it when it is too wet.
12. Hort. to dip the roots of (a tree, shrub, etc.) into a thin mixture of loam and water to retard drying out during transplanting.
v.i.
13. to wade in a puddle: The children were puddling.
14. to be or become puddled: The backyard was puddling.
[ 1300-50; (n.) ME puddel, podel, pothel, appar. dim. of OE pudd ditch, furrow (akin to LG pudel puddle); (v.) late ME pothelen, deriv. of the n. ]